Papou Fruit
by the-light-shines-within
Summary: [In progress]Kairi gets kidnapped by some men in black. Organization 13? Who knows. So of course Sora and Riku have to go out to save her, but what exactly do the men in black want with Kairi? Even I don't know.[SoraxKairi]
1. The Escape

The moon shone with an eerie glow, as it rose in the dark night sky. A girl could be seen stumbling along on the dirt path, in great haste. She appeared to be running from someone or something and her face was etched with fear. She clutched a small sack in one hand, and in the other, it contained a handful of her ridiculously large and frilly dress. She fell a few times, but quickly got up again, while constantly looking over her shoulder to see if anything was following her. As she turned for the umpteenth time to glance behind her, she let out a squeak of terror, and rushed further along the dark road.

Behind the girl, on a sloping hill, stood a figure in a dark cloak. The hood was drawn up tight, so it was impossible to see who it was. He ran after the girl, and seemed to be gaining on her with ease. As she spun around to confront the hooded person, she struck out at him, aiming for his face. However, he was too fast for her, and suddenly appeared behind her, and twisted her arm. She cried out in surprise and pain, as he twisted her arm even harder.

"You cannot escape us. You should just give up," whispered the black cloaked man to the girl.

"I'll never join you!" spat the girl. She jabbed him hard in the stomach, and with a grunt, he released her. She scrambled away from him, and dashed away, off the path, and into the woods. He cursed in frustration, and ran off towards the woods.

The girl weaved between trees, as she panted heavily. Soon, she cleared the woods, and entered an empty clearing. As she paused to catch her breath, she spotted a grouping of lights. She smiled briefly, for the lights meant that a town was nearby. Behind her, she could hear the heavy lumbering of the cloaked man still in the woods, and she ran on, towards the lights.

The man crashed out of the woods, and looked around him. The girl was no where in sight. Because she was smaller, she must have had an easier time getting through the woods, and therefore gained some time. As he stood there, wondering which direction to go in next, something caught his eye. A shred of dirty, frilly cloth was stuck on a bush, on the edge of the clearing. As he walked over to where it was, he glanced up, and saw a few lights in the distance.

_She's heading towards the town,_ thought the man. _I can't possibly catch her now, without being spotted by someone else. I'll just have to wait around the town, until she leaves. Then I'll make my move._ With those last few words, he faded away, back into the darkness.

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The girl didn't stop running, even when she burst through the gates into the town. The few people who were out at this time (mainly drunks) paused in the street, to watch the girl run by. She finally stopped, when she entered the first Inn she saw. When she rushed in, through the doors, the people milling about all stopped to look at her, and then gradually resumed doing what they had been before. She stumbled, breathless to the counter, where she collapsed in the nearest chair. The Innkeeper, a kind lady, rushed around the counter to ask the girl what happened. The girl could only sit there, gasping for air. A few moments passed before she was able to say anything.

When she finally did speak, it had nothing to do about why she was here, or what happened before she entered the town. She merely asked if she could stay here for the night, and how much it would cost. The kind Innkeeper helped the girl upstairs, to a room, where she could stay, charge-free. The girl expressed her gratitude to the woman tiredly, before she got into bed.

The last thing that the Innkeeper and the girl said to each other that night consisted of this:

"Alright honey, you can go to sleep now. Breakfast tomorrow will be whenever you wake up, because you look like you need the sleep. One last thing before you drift off to dreamland sugar, what's your name?"

"Kairi," replied the girl, as she closed her eyes, and fell into a deep dreamless slumber.


	2. The Papou Fruit

Now when I did my first chapter of this story, I kinda forgot about the whole disclaimer thing, and how you can put author notes in. Haha, so here I am, putting them in now. If you didn't like the first chapter, the second may be more to your liking. So read on.

Disclaimer: I do not own kingdom hearts, and if I did, I wouldn't be putting my ideas here. They'd be in the game.

5 weeks earlier

The bright summer sun shone on Sora's still, sleeping face. He blinked open his eyes, then stretched his arms, which was accompanied by a large yawn. He glanced at the clock and opened his sea blue eyes wide.

"Oh no! I'm late!" exclaimed Sora. He hurriedly got dressed, brushed his teeth, and ran out the door.

Sora, Riku and Kairi all agreed to meet at the shack at 9 O'clock each morning. That was the usual place where they would hang out, and do stuff together. They all had to be there at the same time, because they had to open the door together. Each of them owned their own key for the three locks that the door contained. The shack was locked in this special way, because stored inside of it was the many items and weapons that all of them had collected on their journeys. Ever since Sora and Riku defeated Organization XIII and saved Kairi, they have had no need for the objects they obtained. However, the items were too precious to the three, so they didn't have the heart to give them up. Therefore, the items remained in the shack, locked up tight.

As Sora rushed around the bend towards the meeting place, he was a little dismayed to see that his friends were already there waiting for him, and were sure to tease him about being late.

"Sora, you lazy bum! Where've you been?" called Kairi.

"Sleeping in late again, Sora?" Riku teased.

"Sorry I overslept again guys. But do you know how hard it is to sleep on _my_ hair?" replied Sora.

Riku laughed. "You have a point there Sora. C'mon, let's open the door and head inside." Then, with great ceremony, each of them walked foreword and unlocked one part of the door. When the door was fully unlocked, they all walked inside, and talked about what they wanted to do that day. Kairi declared that she wanted to explore that new forest part of Destiny Islands, and that she'd get Selphie to go with her. Riku said that he wanted to examine those gummi parts that Sora brought back, and then because everyone else was doing something on their own, Sora wandered out of the shack, looking for something to do.

"Sora! Wait up!" shouted a voice. Sora turned around and saw Kairi running towards him.

"Where are you going?" questioned Kairi.

"I don't know," replied Sora, while shrugging his shoulders. "I was just going to wander around looking for something to do."

"Well then, um, would you walk with me to Selphie's?" asked Kairi shyly.

"Sure Kairi," said Sora, slightly puzzled as to why Kairi was acting so strange.

They walked together, pleasantly conversing about what was happening in their neighborhood. After a while, they ran out of things to say and fell into a silence that Sora thought comfortable. Suddenly, Kairi broke the silence.

"Sora, do you remember, when we were little, how we talked about the papou fruit?" Kairi asked wonderingly.

"Sure I do Kairi. Why do you ask?"

"Another question," said Kairi, refusing to answer Sora's. "Since you came back to Destiny Islands, have you visited the Secret Place?"

"Com to think of it, no," replied Sora.

"I have to show you something," said Kairi excitedly. She then grabbed Sora's hand, and began to run, leading them to the Secret Place.

When they finally stopped running, they were at the opening of the Secret Place. Kairi let go of Sora's hand and walked briskly inside. Sora followed her. Inside, Kairi knelt at the drawing that she and Sora had done of each other. Next to the drawing of Kairi's head, was a drawing of Sora's arm, with a papou fruit extending to her mouth. Sora recognized it, because he himself had drawn that arm, before he set out on his quest as the key blade master. However, there was something new added to the picture. Extending towards _Sora's_ mouth was an arm with a papou fruit at the end.

Sora, startled when he realized what that meant, opened his eyes wide and looked at Kairi.

"I've been waiting," Kairi said quietly, her eyes focused on the picture, "ever since I came back to Destiny Islands, and you and Riku did not. Even when we were all re-united again, I gave you some time to cope with everything being back to normal. I can't wait any longer!" And with that last sentence, Kairi stood up and faced Sora. Her eyes searched his, looking for some sort of sign. Sora looked confused.

"Wait, Kairi. Does this mean that you want to share a papou fruit with me?" Sora asked.

"Yes," said Kairi excitedly.

"And you've waited all this time, while I was gone to tell me this?" he asked.

"Yes!" said Kairi, getting louder.

"And even when we all came back, you _still _waited to tell me that you want to share a papou fruit with me?"

"YES!" shouted Kairi, fair bouncing with excitement now.

"Of course I'll share a papou fruit with you, Kairi! I've wanted to do that for years now!" Sora answered happily. When Kairi heard that, her face broke out in a huge smile, and she jumped on Sora, to give him a hug. He caught her, a bit surprised, and hugged her back. Kairi, still in Sora's embrace, turned her face towards his, so that they were almost nose to nose. Kairi leaned a little closer, and closed her eyes. She looked so beautiful to Sora right there, that before he knew what he was doing, he leaned in and kissed her. Her lips tasted of sweet vanilla sugar and felt like soft rose petals. If Kairi was surprised at Sora kissing her, she hid it quickly and fell into the kiss, as one falls into blissful sleep.

The kiss lasted no more than a few seconds, for they were interrupted by the sound of Selphie's voice.

"Kairi! Where are you? I thought we were going to explore that new part of the island!" Selphie shouted, sounding annoyed. They broke apart, a little embarrassed. They stood there awkwardly for a moment, neither one of them saying anything. Finally, Sora said something.

"I guess you have to go now," he said sadly.

"Yeah," said Kairi, looking down at her feet.

"Well, um, after you come back from exploring, maybe you and I could share that papou fruit?" asked Sora hesitantly.

"Yeah," said Kairi, looking back at Sora with a hopeful glint in her eyes, "I'd like that."

"Good," said Sora, a smile on his face. "I'll get the fruit, and meet you back, uh, let's say at the cove."

"Great!" replied Kairi, and as she passed Sora on her way out, she gave him a soft kiss on the cheek, and then was gone.

Sora stood there, puzzling over what had just happened. _I kissed Kairi,_ he thought, shocked. It took him a few minutes to compose himself, but when he did, he was till wondering about what had happened between him and Kairi. He walked out of the Secret Place, and his feet led him back to the shack, where Riku was fiddling with some gummi parts. He looked up as Sora approached, and a playful look formed on his face.

"What's the matter buddy?" Riku teased. "You look as if you're walking in a trance."

"Where did you find that papou fruit Riku?" Sora asked abruptly.

Riku frowned. "You mean the one I got before you had to go off and save the world? That one?"

Sora couldn't help but grin at his friend. "Yeah, that one."

"There's a tree growing papou fruit over by the cove. It's kind of secluded, so let me give you directions," said Riku, then he told Sora how to find the tree. "Why do you want to know?"

"Uh, because, um," stuttered Sora, not willing to tell Riku about him and Kairi yet. "Uh, hey! Isn't that gummi piece you're working on highly complex?" asked Sora, as he spied a gummi piece on the table behind Riku.

"As a matter of fact-" started Riku and he turned around to pick up the piece. However, as soon as he turned, Sora ran away, as fast as his legs could carry him.

"Well that was weird," said Riku, and he continued to work on the gummi piece before him.

---

Sora paced on the golden sand impatiently. He had gotten the papou fruit, and then because he had nothing better to do, sat down on the sand in the cove to think and wait. That was hours ago. He wasn't sure how long Kairi and Selphie were going to be out exploring, so he didn't leave the cove, fearing that Kairi would show up when he left. So there he sat, laid, and paced for the next few hours. Some time in the early afternoon, Sora got hungry, and had to go get something to eat. Yet when he returned, Kairi was still not there. After a while, he grew sleepy, so he lay down on the beach and fell asleep.

When he woke up, the sun was setting, still no sign of Kairi. Sora was beginning to get worried now, so he headed back to the shack, to see if Kairi had come back yet. He entered the shack to see Riku cleaning dishes. (Yes, Riku does know how to clean. He's amazing!)

"Hey, has Kairi come back yet?" inquired Sora.

"Nope," replied Riku. "I thought she was with you."

"She's not," answered Sora, stating the obvious.

"Well, where could she be?" asked Riku, looking concerned.

"She said that she and Selphie were going to explore that new forest part of Destiny Islands, remember? She should be back by now," said Sora, starting to get quite nervous.

"Now don't panic," Riku said reassuringly. "We'll just go ask Tidus and Wakka if Selphie has come back yet."

So Riku and Sora set out at a fast pace, towards Wakka's lodging. On the way over, Riku glanced at Sora, and noticed something in his hand.

"Sora, why are you carrying a papou fruit in your hand?" asked Riku curiously. Sora looked at his hand with surprise. He hadn't noticed that he still held the papou fruit in his clenched fist.

"Um, well," as Sora tried to stammer out an excuse, they arrived at Wakka's house and the door was opened immediately upon their arrival.

"I'll go tell-" shouted Tidus over his shoulder as he opened the door to walk out, however he noticed that Sora and Riku were there, so he stopped.

"I was just going to look for you guys," said Tidus, surprise evident on his face. "C'mon in." Tidus held the door open wide, and Sora and Riku walked in.

There was a small couch in the middle of the room and on it were Wakka and a huddled mass that was Selphie. She was shaking uncontrollably, and small sobs erupted from her occasionally. Wakka was doing his best to comfort her, but he wasn't really one of those comforting types.

"What happened to her?" asked Riku, as he looked at Selphie.

"She was walking along in the forest with Kairi-" began Tidus.

"When these two men in black hooded cloaks appeared," interrupted Wakka.

"Hey! I wanna tell the story!" Tidus said angrily.

"I'm the oldest, so I should tell the story," replied Wakka authoritatively.

"No, I should tell it!" shouted Tidus.

"No, I should!" Wakka yelled back.

"No, me!"

"No, me!"

"No, me!"

"No-"

"Enough already!" Sora roared. "What happened to Kairi!" Wakka and Tidus stopped arguing at Sora's outburst, and turned to stare at him for a moment. Riku looked at Sora too. Even Selphie looked up, and cleared her throat.

"I'll tell the story," she said in a small voice. "Like Tidus and Wakka said, Kairi and I were walking along in the forest. Then all of a sudden, these two men, in black hooded cloaks appeared. One of them said, 'You're coming with us,' to Kairi, and grabbed her. As she was struggling to get free, the other pointed to me, and asked, 'What should we do with her?' The first man said, 'The boss only wants this girl. The other girl we can just leave.' Kairi screamed for help but then the first man hit her in the back of the head, knocking her unconscious. I cried out, 'You monsters!' and tried to attack the man holding Kairi, but I was grabbed from behind by the second man. 'What do you want with her?' I screamed. The first man only smirked, and nodded to the man holding me. I recall being hit then, but before I completely passed out, I remember seeing the two men step through a dark portal with Kairi, and disappear. Then everything went black. When I regained consciousness, it was late in the afternoon, and I stumbled back here, as fast as I could." Here, Selphie burst out in fresh torrent of tears. "I'm sorry that I wasn't able to do more and save Kairi," she managed to get out through her tears.

Sora only stood there, too shocked to do or say anything. Riku furrowed his brow in concentration, then turned to face Sora.

"Could it be…Organization XIII?" he questioned.

"It-it can't be," replied Sora, still shocked. "We defeated all of them a while ago. Every last one of them."

"Then who are these cloaked men?" asked Riku.

"I-I don't know," said Sora. It was then, that the papou fruit that Sora had been holding fell to the ground; pure, whole, and uneaten.

---

So how did you like this chapter? You can ask if it really is Organization XIII, and what those black hooded men want Kairi for, but I won't have an answer. I seriously don't know what's going to happen next. I mean, when I was writing this, I didn't expect that Kairi and Sora were going to kiss. That just happened. So leave reviews please!


	3. The Dream

A special thanks goes out to DreamWeaver010, because she was the one who helped me formulate what I am going to do next with this story. It's because of her, that I know where to go next, so THANK YOU! So here's the next chapter. It's pretty short, not as long as I normally write chapters. So don't get used to it.

---

Kairi sat up with a start, her eyes open wide and breathing heavily. She looked at her surroundings, closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

_It was only a dream,_ she thought, as she lay back down on the bed. However, the dream had seemed real enough. She was back in the World That Never Was, the present one, the one that lay in ruin. She tried to run away, to find a way out of that world, but it was no use. _He_ found her, and attempted to make her join the Organization once again. Again, she refused, and when she did, she could feel the darkness coming closer. It surrounded her and drew her in. Then she was falling; falling through a pit of endless darkness, with no escape. It was then that she woke up.

_How am I going to find Riku and Sora,_ thought Kairi. _I know they're out there, somewhere looking for me. _She sighed._ I only hope that I can find them before the Organization does._

Then she lay back down, and tried to think of warm summer days with Sora and Riku.

---

Riku was running, running through a forest, though he didn't know where. The last town he had visited had been days ago, and another should have popped up by now.

_I'm running out of time!_ Riku thought in frustration. _If I don't find Kairi soon, who know what those scoundrels will do to her._

Riku thought back to the day when Kairi had been kidnapped. Sora had been a mess when he had found out, and it took forever for Riku to calm him down. The next morning, when the two of them had met back at the shack, they saw a note posted to the door. It had said that this new Organization wanted Kairi, and its members were the ones who had kidnapped her. The not also said, that if they wanted to see Kairi again, they had to come to the World That Never Was and fight for her. After little discussion, Riku and Sora set out on another journey to rescue Kairi once again, but this time, together.

Riku stopped for a moment, to drink some water, and rest. _Sora…where could you be? If only…no. You're alright, wherever you are, I know it. Somewhere…somehow, we'll re-unite, and save Kairi together._

Riku stood up and continued running, deeper into the forest.

---

"I'm sorry sir, but she ran into the town, and I couldn't risk being discovered…"

"You failed?" boomed a voice. It came from a young man, who was seated on a large white throne. He was dressed in a long black cloak, and his face was concealed by a dark hood.

"Yes. I'm sorry sir, but-" began another man in a similar dark cloak. He stood before the seated one, while his face too was concealed.

"Excuses, excuses," interrupted the man who was seated. "They won't bring Kairi back to us." He paused for a moment, to think. "Listen closely, because I'm only going to say this once. Stay outside the town at all times, but watch the girl carefully. As soon as she leaves the town's gates, capture her, and bring her back to me. We don't have room for anymore mistakes, so make sure that you don't screw this up!" concluded the seated man, and with that, he dismissed the other cloaked figure.

The seated man sighed, and held his head in his hands. _I'm surrounded by idiots. How am I ever going to pull this off,_ he thought. _If Kairi had even _thought_ about joining the Organization, this would have been easier. Now though, not only do I have to re-capture her, I still have to try and convince her to join us, and do something about Sora and Riku. _The man sighed. _A Nobody's job is never finished._

_---_

So? Did you like this chapter? It was nice and short if you're in a rush, and it shouldn't have taken you too long to read. Review please and let me know what you think!


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